London 2012, one of the many bodies with their fingers in the Olympics' pie, has shelved plans to promote the 2012 London Olympics by using a ship sailing around the world advertising Britain's "cultural riches".
The plan had been for the ship, named the Olympic Friend-ship, to spend four years travelling around the world. The ocean-going clipper had been due to set sail this August. It was to have been crewed by young people, artists, philosophers and students.
The "grand plan" was that the ship would: "...carry a cargo emblematic of the UK's cultural riches.
In turn, every nation visited will have the opportunity to contribute to the vessel's cargo - either in real terms or via the website.
Through dialogue and exchange, creativity and sharing, the UK will use this voyage to redefine its relationship to world cultures and celebrate London's new role as host city."
Quite why this idea has been scrapped has not been officially stated. However, the fact that the plan sounds like a load of tosh is probably the key factor.
The appallingly named 'Friend-Ship' was actually reported as being on hold in Jan 2007 but at the time it was suggested that an internet 'virtual vessel' would be just as good (or bad). Now it seems even the virtual vessel has evaporated.
ReplyDeleteI saw somewhere that it was abandoned due to 'criticism from a few corners of the Olympic movement'